Please see on Farsi Version

Shirzanan: Mazroughi, the head of women’s Paralympic athletics, said, “This year our athlete is in good shape and we are looking for good results; Fatemeh Montazeri is the only women runner in Paralympics and she is prepared and qualified for the Beijing games.”

Shirzanan: Last week the head of cycling federation stated foreign cycling coaches are on their way. In an interview with Shirzanan he added, “After the brilliant performance of women’s cyclist in national races and their abilities in international competitions we decided to hire a foreign coach for them; two cycling coaches for men’s team and one for women’s team.

Shirzanan: Sarah Samadi, a member of women’s roller skating team said, “Unfortunately the discrimination is not only toward women but also toward the athletic fields they choose. When some sports get huge budgets others don’t have enough and skating is one of the poor ones.”

Shirzanan: Women divers can start their practices, says the spokesperson of Azady Stadium. We had heard that although the foreign coach has been hired for women’s diving team they still practice theoretically in gymnasium. But now they can start their practical training in the pool.

Shirzanan: Homa Hossein, Iran female Olympic qualifier in rowing said, “I am practicing very hard and my records are satisfactory. My coach is happy with me. I think I got weak a little bit; I constantly catch cold and get sick. I should work on my immunity system.”

Shirzanan: Iran basketball federation is testing tall girls in order to re-build its foundations. This is the first time that federation decided to do this, Fatemeh Karamzadeh, the deputy manager of federation explains, “ We are testing girls all over Iran (born 1989) who are not shorter than 175 cm.”

Shirzanan: “Women’s national fencing team will put an hold on their practices, while waiting for the foreign coach.”

Shirzanan: Four different leagues are in this year’s schedule for Iran female karateka-s. The deputy manager of the karate federation said, “ After getting the permission for the Islamic outfit from the International karate federation we start planning and organizing international competitions. This will be a busy year for us.”

Shirzanan: this week in News Booth

Iran-e varzeshi, on May 27th 2008 had a report on women’s karate team:

“Antonio Espinos, the head of WKF, in a formal letter congratulated Katiraie’s election as the head of Iran Karate federation and also agreed to the Islamic outfit of women’s national team. Behzad Katiraie, has always proved himself as a capable and knowledgeable person in international relations. Years ago he got the permission for Iran women’s Wushu team.”

Etemad-e Meli on May 29th 2008, based on Fars News reported:

“22 players had been invited for the preliminary camp for women’s Futsal team. This camp will take place in Azady Stadium.”

Jam-e Jam on the same day had an interview with Homa Hosseini:

“She takes a deep breath and says, “ from the beginning of our practices for Olympic qualifications we decided to choose the best and most deserving person to sit in the boat. And now I hope I can be that person in China.”

Etemad-e Meli, in its girls’ sports page wrote:

“ “A girl? Kickboxing? … Are you kidding?" This is a usual reaction of people when they hear of girl’s kickboxing. Perhaps there was a time that the same reaction happened toward girls participating in Karate and Taekwondo. Now after some years it seems normal for girls being karateka or… but it is still strange for many to see girls getting kicks at their faces. They don’t care if they get hit in the face. In Kickboxing one should hit in order to not get bitten. Shiva Davoodifar and Hadiseh Nouhi won the gold medals for Iran in Georgia’s international games. They won these medals without ever having a coach for kickboxing.”

...... Some men are standing behind the tall fences of the women’s park arguing with the gatekeepers. Some of them have used to use this green area for their daily walk and their morning athletic rituals and some were only enjoying the park’s fresh air; but now their entrance is prohibited. The guard and the gatekeepers explain, “There were many people complaining that the nearest green area to their house is taken from them. So the officials decided to let the families to use the park for certain hours of the day so men can also enjoy the park. Also parts of the park can be used for men, but it should become isolated from women’s part.”

Although many women still don’t know about this park, the number of women who are freely using the park is not low at all. Women with their sports outfits without headscarves and Mantua are walking, running and some are sitting on the grass. Park’s female guards are the only women who have their headscarves and wear navy-blue uniforms. They are equipped with police whistles. But these young guards are not allowed to talk to anyone. One of them emphasizes, “ We are not allowed to talk to any of the women here; our supervisors have told us specifically not to talk to journalists.

” Their job is to keep the park secure and not to let anyone but women enter the area. I asked her: what if there is a situation, an attack of some sort? She said, “ Don’t worry, it is safe here and we are trained. We also have our whistles if the situation gets out of hand.” Unlike the female security and guards, women and young girls are excited about the park. The park let them escape the summer heat.

Is your school close by?

No, we heard about the park in the news and we just came to see how it works.

doesn’t it bother you that this is only for women and no man is around?

No, it is an advantage; because of the way the majority of people think in Iran it is really hard to have a safe mutual public place for both men and women: it is not only the Hijab problems. Many women are not comfortable or don’t feel safe in front of men. We should wait a long time to get to a mutually free and safe public space.

The park is equipped with sports equipment and tools. There are twenty female guards in each shift plus the male security guard and gatekeepers who are outside. The cameras and cell phones are not allowed and the head supervisor is sure about the security of the place.

The next three women’s parks are going to be in the southeast, the southwest and the northwest of the capital and they will be covered by high wooden fence and green plants. Not all of the members of Tehran City Council are happy about the project of women’s park. Ma’someh Ebtekar, the reformist member of the city council, believes that the women’s park is part of a larger project of gender separation in public space introduced by the current fundamentalist government.

Many of the women’s right activists also believe that this is also a sexual discrimination and sort of gender apartheid; it does not matter how is getting a bigger share of the space, women or men, what matters is that the public resources are not divided equally. The critics of this idea also believe that the development of women’s parks in future may prohibit women using other public parks for their athletic activities.

.... Up to here everything seems rational; then Sara and Fatemeh and their coaches went to a town in Chinese Taipei to attend – based on what the federation deputy said – “ in a calm and quiet competition and away from the media attention.” Of curse it is rational to decide and choose Iran’s female representative in Olympics 2008 carefully. But here it is important to ask what would be the advantages of having this competition inside Iran:

Those who are familiar with women’s sports in Iran know that the greatest weakness of Iranian sportswomen is international competitions is their intimidation in front of a huge audience. The fact that even inside Iran Iranian women athletes do not have enough chances to gain the experience in facing the crowed adds to their intimidation in international competition.

A reminder may help us to see how important it could be to have the taekwondo game in Iran: Remember that one of the most crowded games in the history of women’s sports in Iran after the revolution was the Muslim women’s sports competition in which the indoor team handball field in Azady Stadium was packed with audience.

If this taekwondo match takes place in Iran, we will have a golden opportunity to: 1- it will invite and attract women spectators to watch women’s games. 2- our sportswomen will gain the experience of playing in front of huge audience. 3- it will inspire Iranian women and it will give a positive energy to our female athletes.

Of course there is still time to gain from this match; the two taekwondo players can finish their preparatory camp in Chinese Taipei and then come back to Iran for their final match. The Olympics is very important for everyone; both for those who are involved directly in decision making and for us, fans, media and women,